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"Kit" redirects here. For the doll, see Kit Kittredge (doll).

Kit Kittredge is the seventh Historical Character, representing the Great Depression era. Kit was released in 2000 and was part of the BeForever collection.

Kit and parts of her original collection were re-released in 2023 in honor of her 100th birthday.

Personality and Facts[]

Kit was named after her mother and Aunt Millie; however, she prefers to go by her nickname. Kit is both derived from her last name and the Great War[3]-era song "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag". She'd beg her father to "sing the kit song!" and soon after everyone began to call her Kit and the name stuck. Charlie calls her "Squirt."

Kit thinks herself as not being "flouncy." She is very much a tomboy who does not like pink or ruffles, and she cares little for baking, dusting, dresses, or dance class, even though she has an affinity for square dancing. She enjoys baseball, and her favorite player is Ernie Lombardi, the catcher for the Cincinnati Reds. Kit likes when boys are around because she believes they are always up to something. She is interested in everything and fancies herself a reporter and factual writer. Her favorite place is the newsroom of the Cincinnati Register, where she often is sent to deliver Uncle Hendrick's letters to the editor. She wins an award for her writing in Kit's Railway Adventure, and has also has a letter to the editor published in the newspaper. She loves to read, and is often reading The Adventures of Robin Hood, a book Charlie gave her. She believes in telling the truth straight-out, but sometimes finds it hard to.

Kit doesn't always like change, even though sometimes she wishes for them to happen. She has a fascination with the spunky, independent pilot Amelia Earhart. She has strong pride and dislikes feeling dependent on charity from others (or being a moocher), but learns to swallow it and tackle her problems with thrift and cleverness. She loves country life and the great outdoors. Kit is embarrassed easily, especially when the hardships of her life are revealed to others. She is easily irritated and peevish. She's not a good artist.

Kit loves adventures. She often feels stuck with endless chores since her home became a boarding house, and she doesn't enjoy doing them (leading her to do a shoddy or slapdash job at first). While initially she dislikes having boarders and wishes her father would get a job quickly so they could be evicted, she comes around to liking them and the Howards as well, seeing them as extended family. Kit is funny and charming, often winning the love and support of others. She doesn't like to see people suffer, and usually wants to bring attention to causes she believes in. Kit is practical and describes herself as spunky and straightforward. She often doesn't hold her tongue and ends up saying mean things without intending to. Kit very seldom cried before the Depression began to affect her life. Kit loves her father and feels he's the best man in the world, with or without a job; she gets upset when her Great-Uncle Hendrick disparages him. She wants to go to college and study journalism.[4]

American Girl characterizes her as resourceful and clever, having a can-do attitude and someone who loves to put her creativity to work to brighten someone else's day. She is also characterized as being inquisitive on her Meet video on YouTube,[5] and the catalogue page on the American Girl Publishing site. The American Girl website also describes her as a bright light in the dark days of the Great Depression.

Family and Friends[]

Family[]

Friends and Other Minor Characters[]

Books[]

Main article: List of Kit's Books

Other Media[]

Doll[]

KitBFDollFull

The Kit doll.

Main article: Kit Kittredge (doll)

Collection[]

See Kit's Collection

Trivia[]

  • Kit was the first new Historical Character released after Mattel had fully taken over ownership of American Girl; while she began development before the purchase was completed, there are no Pre-Mattel Kit dolls or collection items. She is often mistaken as such because older head molds with Pleasant Company lasted for some time into the 2000s.
  • Kit was the first character and Historical Character with short hair.
  • Kit was the first character doll released with freckles. (While Felicity Merriman is described as having freckles, the doll does not.)
  • Kit's address is 229 Abbot Place.[6]
  • While Kit's series and collection are tagged officially as the year 1934 by American Girl, her first central series book takes place in 1932 and carries until early 1934; she is thus the second Historical Character to break the pattern of books starting in a year that ends in a 4 (with the first being Molly McIntire).
  • In the special edition version of Meet Kit, Valerie Tripp explains that Kit's story was inspired by her own mother's life story.

References[]

  1. Meet Kit, Looking Back section, pg 69: The year 1932, when Kit's story begins, was the lowest point of The Great Depression[...].
  2. The Jazzman's Trumpet starts in September 1935.
  3. At the time, WWI was known as the Great War; there was, of course, no way to logically predict in 1932 that there would be a second World War.
  4. Full Speed Ahead: My Journey with Kit
  5. Meet Kit Kittredge
  6. Kit Learns a Lesson, on the envelope Stirling receives. There is no ZIP code as those did not yet exist.

See also[]

American Girl Historical Characters
1760s

Kaya'aton'my

1770s

Felicity Merriman ♦ ★

1810s

Caroline Abbott ♦ ★

1820s

Josefina Montoya

1850s

Cécile Rey
and Marie-Grace Gardner

1850s

Kirsten Larson

1860s

Addy Walker

1900s

Samantha Parkington

1910s

Rebecca Rubin

1920s

Claudie Wells

1930s

Kit Kittredge

1940s

Nanea Mitchell

1940s

Molly McIntire

1950s

Maryellen Larkin

1960s

Melody Ellison

1970s

Julie Albright

1980s

Courtney Moore

2000s

Nicki Hoffman
and Isabel Hoffman

Archived / ♦ Part of the BeForever Collection

BeForever-Revised and Released Historical Characters
1760s

Kaya'aton'my

1770s

Felicity Merriman ♦ ★

1810s

Caroline Abbott

1820s

Josefina Montoya

1860s

Addy Walker

1900s

Samantha Parkington

1910s

Rebecca Rubin

1930s

Kit Kittredge

1940s

Nanea Mitchell

1940s

Molly McIntire ♦ ★

1950s

Maryellen Larkin

1960s

Melody Ellison

1970s

Julie Albright

Archived | ♦ Re-released for BeForever | ♥ First Released in BeForever

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